FloraPix

9901 - Bromeliads (Garden) - 2012-06-24
(Dimension: 670 x 530 pixels - Counter: 13055)
Dueterochonia or hybrid of?

Locality: Los Angeles
Photographer: Bryan Chan
Note: Bryan this looks identical to a plant I have in my collection, with correction for your more favourable growing conditions. Mine flowers regularly now, but took about 6 years to start. Your plant shows the characteristic long terminal leaf point, with the lateral spines mostly all in the lower half of the leaf. Mine came labelled Hechtia but clearly isnt. In flower it looks more or less like Dyckia velascana (or what I grew under this name) so I would guess it is pure Dyckia. (Sent: brom-l@science.uu.nl)
Identification:

Note (9893): Bryan Chan (2012-06-23) - Spines generally form only on the bottom half of leaves (Sent: brom-l@science.uu.nl)
Note (9893): Barry (2012-06-23) - This is strange , but beautiful.
Note (9894): Dutch Vandervort (2012-06-24) - Is inflorescence lateral or terminal. My guess is lateral. My hunch is that it is pure Dyckia. A hunch is a little less certain than a guess. (Sent: brom-l@science.uu.nl)
Note (9894): Bryan Chan (2012-06-24) - Hi Dutch, inflorescence is coming out of the center of what looks like an immature pup at the base of the plant.
Note (9894): Bryan Chan (2012-06-24) - Dutch, I added a picture for you to see. My note is attached to that picture.
Note (9894): Dutch Vandervort (2012-06-24) - Bryan - this pup into bloom phenomenon is actually somewhat common in many of the terrestrials. The stubby, pup-like 'leaves' are actually succulent scape bracts. Thus bloom is lateral and the apical meristem persists. Again, everything indicates Dyckia. The hunch gets elevated to a solid guess! You might dissect one of the flowers to see if there is anything there that precludes or challenges Dyckia but I think now it is mostly a matter of which Dyckia is it, hybrid? Species? If species, established or new? (Sent: brom-l@science.uu.nl)
Note (9894): Bryan Chan (2012-06-25) - Thanks Dutch, Dyckia it is. I would not know what to look for in a flower for identification purposes. I only take them apart to bring pollen to them. Picture number five is not mine, although it is similar to what I have. The unknown author of the note made a reference to D. velascana and could it be that I have a hybrid with velascana in the parentage?
Note (9894): Dutch Vandervort (2012-06-25) - My buddy Constantino Gastaldi of southern Brasil says it is a dead ringer for Dyckia pulquinensis of Bolivia. Look under: http://dyckiabrazil.blogspot.mx/2012/05/blog-post_4922.html

Constantino is a great guy and he runs a very informative blog at that address. (Sent: brom-l@science.uu.nl)
Note (9894): Joachim Saul (2012-06-26) - Dutch, Constantino got his plant through me. Including the name "Dyckia aff. pulquinensis" which I picked up from http://dyckiabrazil.com/482/dyckia-affinis-pulquinensis/
I am sure this is also the same as the one under http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/tropical/?gal=brom&genus=Dyckia&id=5646
I don't know where "Dyckia aff. pulquinensis" is from originally and whether that makes sense, though.

A nice, slow growing and quite unusual Dyckia. (Sent: brom-l@science.uu.nl)
Identification (9893): Bryan Chan (2012-06-28) =Dyckia aff. pulquinensis (Sent: brom-l@science.uu.nl)